


Ace of Hearts

by haute_coldture



Category: The Flash (TV 2014), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Barry Allen & Cisco Ramon Friendship, Barry Allen maybe develops a card trick kink, Cisco's enthusiasm makes up for his lack of eloquence, F/M, Gen, Good Friend Cisco Ramon, Leonard Snart seduces with sleight of hand, M/M, Minor Eddie Thawne/Iris West, One-Sided Barry Allen/Iris West, Pre-Relationship, UST
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:27:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24629290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haute_coldture/pseuds/haute_coldture
Summary: On a rare night off, Barry and Cisco end up sharing a table with a pair of stunning strangers. Barry finds himself captivated by more than just clever card tricks.
Relationships: Barry Allen/Leonard Snart, Cisco Ramon/Lisa Snart
Comments: 25
Kudos: 200





	Ace of Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> AU alternate first meeting with some gentle bending of Flash Season 1’s timeline; Barry is a little further along in his early days as The Flash, Captain Cold doesn’t exist just yet, and Iris is adorably happy with Eddie (because I love them too, and even if they're just barely-mentioned background in this fic, they deserve nice things). Additional notes at the end. 
> 
> Boundless thanks to Greenie, [eutuxia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eutuxia), and M for their wonderful beta-reading, feedback, and excellent input. They helped make my one-night wordvomit vastly more intelligible ♥

“You said Caitlin recommended this place?” Barry asked Cisco as he craned his neck to look around the microbrewery. Admittedly, he hadn’t expected it to be as upscale as all this. He was used to the run-down, laid-back atmosphere of bars with dingy lighting and a lingering alcoholic tang to the air. In contrast, this place had high ceilings with soft lighting more like what he might expect to find in a concert hall. Sure, there were plenty of the industrial design touches he expected; exposed metal pipes, brick accents, and deep cherry wood. But it also had art deco flourishes that made it feel both welcoming and expensive in a way he immediately worried his meager CSI salary would wince at. 

Cisco shrugged, tucking a wayward lock of hair behind his ear. “Yeah, she and Ronnie used to come here a lot. Said the food was pretty good, and it doesn’t hurt that it’s walking distance from the Labs either.” 

Cisco grabbed some of the shoestring fries overflowing from the basket between them, dropping his volume to add with a mischievous grin, “And, I mean, the _name_ _alone,_ come on, it’s only right that the fastest man alive checks out _Mercury Microbrew_.” Cisco’s fingers tapped the logo on one of the coasters, a stylized figure of the Roman god in fluid motion, complete with little wings on his feet that could almost be mistaken for a more familiar lightning bolt. Cisco’s hand froze midair on its path to deliver fries to his mouth, eyes going wide in sudden revelation, “Dude, if you and _Ray Palmer_ both—”

“Oh my god, _please_ stop,” Barry chided half-heartedly, rolling his eyes as he grabbed some of the fries for himself, munching as he flipped through the menu. At this time in the early evening, Mercury Microbrew was crowded enough that they’d chosen to wait at the bar for one of the tables outside to get cleared.

“Just sayin’,” Cisco grinned impishly, popping fries into his mouth.

Barry paused, fingering at one of the seasonal leaflets tucked into the menu listing all the limited-time end-of-summer specials. “You know,” he started a little more softly than he intended, “I think this is the first thing I’ve done just for fun in, like, months?” His brows drew together as he leaned back on the stool, careful to mind his balance. “I don’t remember the last time I did anything just to hang out. Between work and,” he paused, gesturing with a wave of his hand. “ ... _Everything_ , I kinda get caught up in it.”

Cisco nodded, his expression friendly and commiserating. “Oh yeah, same. _Big_ same. All that stuff is so important that it feels like I’m slacking off if I take any me-time.”

“Right?!” Barry interjected, leaning forward to prop his elbows on the bartop. “And if something happens because I wasn’t around, that’s on _me_.”

“Even though it’s _not,_ ” Cisco added emphatically, gesturing with another pinch of fries. “You know that, right? You can be a lot of places really quick and all, but you can’t be everywhere all the time. You might be more meta now, but you’re still _human_ , dude.” 

Barry’s lips twisted as he tried to reconcile that. “Yeah, I guess I know. But I still feel responsible. Oliver said that too, more or less, last time we talked about the whole ... Thing,” He arched his brows, knowing Cisco would fill in the blanks.

“Mmhmm,” Cisco chewed thoughtfully, then straightened and held an especially long fry up, gesturing with it to punctuate his words. “Well, our good doctor said we have to take care of ourselves in order to take care of the city, so technically this _is_ still doing that Thing. Self-care style.” He added an imperious flourish with the fry before biting into it.

Barry snorted a laugh, “I’m still amazed she managed to prescribe all that and topped it off with a _Parks and Rec_ quote with a straight face. _Treat yo self!_ ” Barry repeated in his best imitation of her stoic delivery.

“I’m so proud,” Cisco preened, sniffing a little theatrically as he pantomimed wiping away tears.

“Well,” Barry said, grabbing his glass of strawberry lemonade, “here’s to self-care. And friends.” The smile he wore was a little crooked in its authenticity, and Cisco mirrored it with a wide toothy grin of his own.

“Cheers to that.” Cisco clinked his glass against Barry’s, and they both agreed to _not_ talk about work or Flash business for the rest of the night if they could help it.

“Allen, party of two?” A server asked, getting their attention. “Did you still want a table outside?”

Sharing a glance, they realized they both had nearly forgotten about the table. “Sure, yeah, please!” Cisco slid off his stool, grabbing his drink and the basket of fries. “Lead on, Good—” he leaned to glance at the server’s name tag, “Sir Patrick! _Engage!_ ” Barry followed, snorting a quiet laugh as Cisco launched into excited babble at discovering the server was just as entertained by Star Trek references as he was.

By the time they got their food, Barry was starting to feel like he should have had more than just the one protein bar at the labs to tide him over. Caitlin was right, the food _was_ really good; Barry had already polished off the first round of appetizers and was working into the second. A heaping plate of nachos (which the menu had said served six to eight people) was about halfway gone when a woman who looked like she had just stepped out of a fashion magazine stopped beside their table.

“Hi, sorry to bother you, but are those any good?” She pointed a perfectly-manicured nail at the nachos.

Cisco stared at her like he wasn’t sure if he should be alarmed or excited. “Uh, yeah, they’re _awesome_.”

Barry nodded, making an affirmative noise in answer as he awkwardly covered his mouth to avoid being rude while he chewed a huge bite.

“You wanna try some?” Cisco blurted, then tried to smooth over his glaze of panic with a friendly gesture. “I mean, it’s not like _we’re_ gonna be able to finish all of these by ourselves,” he added, his eyes darting from Barry back to the woman.

“Oh, really? Are you sure?” She asked Cisco, touching his shoulder.

“YEAH, YES, please!” Cisco eagerly grabbed the plate to push it closer to her.

“That’s so sweet, thank you,” she beamed at Cisco, delicately fishing out a smaller chip with ample toppings distribution and cupped her other hand underneath it as she took a bite. Cisco’s wide-eyed stare somehow got _wider_ at the pleased little sound she made as she savored the food. 

“Oh my god, these _are_ amazing,” she declared reverently between bites. Cisco looked at Barry desperately. 

“I leave you alone for five minutes and you’re already stealing,” drawled a man’s voice from behind Barry, and he turned to see _another_ fashion magazine ad walk up to their table—a man this time, who stopped close enough that Barry caught the scent of leather from his jacket and something else he couldn’t quite identify.

“Sorry, is she bothering you?” The man asked, his sharp blue gaze flicking from Cisco to settle on Barry.

“No,” Cisco answered quickly, “Not at all, she’s the _opposite_ of bothering. Totally not a bother. We’re just two single dudes on a single dudes guys’ night out, just. Y’know. Chillin’.” Cisco draped an arm over the back of one of the empty chairs in an awkward contortion that looked anything but natural or comfortable.

The woman flashed a grin at Cisco before turning a pout on the man. “See, Lenny? These boys were nice enough to _share,_ unlike _some_ people.” The man—Lenny?—rolled his eyes at whatever she was referring to, and Cisco seemed to deflate at the clear familiarity between the two.

“Apologies for the interruption, my sister and I will leave you to your meal,” the man said to Cisco with a tight, polite smile.

Cisco’s flagging hope visibly reignited as he shot Barry another glance. “No, it’s—it’s cool if you want to help us finish them off? I mean, we’ve got plenty of table. Chairs! Extra chairs, just us two here and two extra chairs.” Cisco laughed a little too openly, and when the magazine model siblings looked away to confer between themselves, Cisco mouthed Caitlin’s earlier sage advice: _Treat yo self!_

Barry’s brows rose as he gave Cisco a little shrug and smile. He wasn’t opposed, and Cisco was practically falling over himself. Barry couldn’t blame him; he could kinda see the sibling resemblance between the two strangers, mostly in that they were both just _ridiculously_ good-looking.

“Yeah, you’re welcome to join us,” Barry affirmed aloud and got a relieved grin from Cisco.

The woman settled down beside Cisco almost immediately, scooting her chair in—and a little closer—to the scientist. “All right, you two are officially my new best friends. I’m Lisa, by the way.”

Barry raised his hand in a little wave, “I’m Barry.”

“Cisco, hi,” he said in introduction, seeming to realize midway through offering his hand to shake that Lisa was _very_ close. Before he could try to figure out what to do with his hesitant hovering hand, she gracefully accepted it in both of hers and somehow made it look outright elegant instead of awkward.

“Nice to meet you,” the man’s voice came from beside Barry, and the speedster had to check himself to keep from jumping. He hadn’t even heard the man move, but he’d settled into the chair beside Barry as if he’d been there all night.

“Len,” the man added, fingers dancing through the air to indicate himself.

“Good to meet you,” Barry said after a beat, realizing he’d gotten distracted for a moment as he tracked the fluid movements of Len’s fingers until they settled on the tabletop. “So, uh, did you two already eat, or…”

“A few hours ago, but I’ve always got room for nachos,” Lisa responded, already helping herself to another bite from the plate.

“We were supposed to just be dropping by to visit a friend,” Len said with the gentle scolding of a long-suffering sibling, “but _apparently_ after hearing so much about how good the food was, _someone_ couldn’t resist mooching.”

Lisa was mid-bite, so her only defense was a scandalized noise of dissent.

Len snorted, tilting his head fondly, “But it’s kind of you both to share, so at least let us cover the cost of these.”

“No, don’t worry about it,” Barry protested, tracing a fingertip through the condensation on his glass. “My sister does the same thing sometimes, so consider this the universe paying it forward.” He realized that sounded like a complaint, and hurriedly added, “Which I don’t mind! It’s fine, really.”

Len regarded him curiously, “You older or younger?”

Barry blinked, “I’m older, kinda, though she’s also technically my adopted sister. What about you?” He glanced between Lisa and Len, noting the hints of silver in his short hair that wasn’t present in hers, but neither of them seemed much older than their thirties.

“She’s a textbook little sister,” Len said with a fond glance at her, but his gaze returned to Barry conspiratorially. “I’m sure you know how it is.”

Barry huffed a laugh, “Yep. Spoiled rotten but you gotta love ‘em, right?” He realized he’d gone almost all evening without thinking of Iris, and took a sip of his drink to make room to process that.

“I’ve got an older brother, but he’s completely unremarkable in literally every way,” Cisco interjected. 

The server stopped by the table to greet the newcomers and top off drinks for everyone. Barry found himself zoning out as he considered how things were between him and Iris, mostly that there _was_ no “him and Iris” in the way his heart clenched and longed for. Her rejection—kind as it had been—still felt like a molten wound. She was with Eddie, though, and they were happy, which Barry was happy about for them even if it meant wallowing in heartache for himself. Caitlin and Cisco hadn’t said it, but he suspected no small part of Cisco’s invitation to have a low-key guys’ night out was to help get his mind off the whole Iris situation, so Barry did his best to put her out of his mind again.

Cisco was saying something about Star Trek—no doubt initiated with their geeky server as he brought them another round of drinks—and the soft sound of a warm chuckle beside Barry helped pull his attention back to focus on his immediate company.

“I knew I was on the best side of the table,” Lisa observed with a wink at Cisco, who seemed unsure how to respond to it so he grinned and tucked his hair behind his ears.

“Best hair, I’ll give you that,” Len drawled coolly, which Lisa took as an invitation to flaunt her chestnut locks with an artful flick.

“But the best _manners_ ,” Len continued, glancing at where Barry had a napkin neatly draped over his lap, whereas Cisco’s had fallen to the ground, likely in his eagerness to accommodate Lisa. Len hadn’t commented on it, but even as Barry seemed to retreat inward with something on his mind these last few minutes, he’d politely thanked their server both times he’d come and gone in the short minutes since Len and Lisa had joined them. “Seems that’s all us. Matter of fact,” he twisted a little in his seat to pull something out of his pocket. “If we can’t compensate you for the meal the old fashioned way, how about some entertainment instead?”

Len held a box of playing cards, and Cisco leaned forward. “Dude, wait, are you a _magician_?”

“Something like that,” Len responded coyly, arching a brow as his eyes returned to Barry. “Interested?”

“Very,” Barry said quickly, then the rest of his brain caught up as Len’s lips curled into something closer to a smirk.

“Uh, in you,” Barry stammered, and Len’s brow arched as he tilted his head slightly, looking at Barry with consideration that heated Barry’s cheeks.

Barry tried hurriedly clarifying, “Doing magic! Magic is cool.” He could feel his flush deepen at his lame attempt at a coverup. His brain was desperately trying to make every scrap of time count to help him recover from suddenly realizing how his response could be interpreted. He hadn’t _meant_ it like that, and clearly talking more wasn’t helping.

“Well, I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up,” Len said slowly as he flicked the box of cards open, pulling out the deck and squaring it in his fingers. “But I aim to please.”

Len looked at Barry and _winked_.

And, well, while Barry really hadn’t meant to come off as flirtatious, there were worse things than a gorgeous stranger flirting back when Barry stumbled into an innuendo. Taking refuge in a sip from his drink, Barry wondered if Len was just playing along to tease him, though it didn’t seem like the man was making fun of him. Barry was awful at flirting even on his best day when he actually tried to do it and was even worse at identifying when someone was aiming a volley of interest his way. Cisco was obviously smitten and trying his best with Lisa, but Barry hadn’t even considered the possibility of someone showing interest in him; he sure was thinking about it _now_ , though, and that renewed the heat of his blush.

As if the breeze decided to give that train of thought a nudge, the scent of leather and _something else_ from Len nipped into Barry again, and he didn't think his sense of smell had been heightened after the lightning, but it sure felt like it right about now.

Len’s long fingers began working the deck through an array of shuffles, cascading the cards together smoothly, cutting, then re-ordering separate cuts in a way Barry was pretty sure he couldn’t have managed even with his speed.

“Let’s start easy. Now, I’m no fortune teller, but my cards can tell a great deal about a person." Len’s voice lilted with dramatic showmanship as he moved the cards between his hands, punctuating his words with precise flicks and twists of his wrists. Barry was mesmerized.

“Pick a card, Cisco.” Len fanned the deck out in front of him and held it over the table, cards face-down in his hands with their intricately-printed blue scrollwork on display.

Cisco reached out and decisively plucked one from near the center of the deck. 

“Don’t show me. You can let Lisa peek, though she’s gonna do that with or without permission.” There was a layer of theatricality to how Len drawled the words, averting his gaze and rejoining the cards into a single deck, then opening it into two halves.

“Once you’ve got it memorized, go ahead and pop it back on top here,” Len held out one half of the deck, and Cisco slid his card back onto it, face-down. Letting the upper half drop down, Len re-squared the deck in his hands.

“Cisco, I know we just met, but I want you to think of someone you’re _fond_ of—boyfriend, girlfriend, partner, maybe even someone you'd like to get to know,” Len paused to slide a glance at Lisa, then trained his eyes back on Cisco as he continued, “You don’t have to tell me who, just think of them,” Len instructed, watching as Cisco seemed to school his features into concentration with only a slight flicker of awkwardness. Beside him, Lisa shifted in her chair, propping her chin in her hand in a position that conveniently leaned a little closer to Cisco.

“Have someone in mind?” Len asked, amusement tucked into the corner of his mouth as he watched Cisco valiantly fail at not being obvious about the subject of his concentration.

“Yep,” Cisco responded, his voice somewhere between certain and nervous.

“Good,” Len said as he held the deck out to Cisco between his thumb and forefinger, “now keep concentrating, and give the deck a little squeeze.”

Cisco hesitated and pointedly _did not_ look at Lisa, glancing instead at Barry who just shrugged curiously. As instructed, Cisco reached out to lightly squeeze the deck of cards.

“Like you mean it,” Len said, and Cisco’s brow furrowed with effort as he clenched his hand around the deck, which seemed to satisfy Len.

“ _There_ you go,” Len twisted the deck away in one hand, tilting his gaze toward Barry as he dropped his words into a conspiratorial aside. “Enthusiastic _and_ obedient? _That's_ fun.”

Barry had just lowered his glass to the table, so it didn’t quite slip from his fingers, but only just. Cisco looked like he wasn’t sure if it was a compliment but more importantly seemed to finally be catching on to whatever was happening on the other side of the table.

Lisa snorted, “ _Really_ , Lenny?” 

Len held up the first finger of his unoccupied hand, “Hush, sis.” Lisa rolled her eyes and pursed her lips, but remained silent.

“Now, if you’ve put enough heart into it,” Len continued, slowly spreading the deck again into a face-down fan for the table to see, “you’ll see that— _aha_ ,” Len’s fingertips paused. Nestled in the blue deck was a single card with a red back. “Looks like you made them blush.”

Cisco gaped, then laughed a little nervously, glancing at Lisa and tucking his hair behind his ears again. “No way,” he said, leaning forward to look at the cards.

Len held the cards steady for a moment longer, then smoothly gathered one half of the deck into his upper hand again, cutting the two halves together so the half with the red card sat on top now. Holding the deck in one hand, he used the other to delicately pluck the top card off and rotated it between his thumb and forefinger for all to see the Queen of Diamonds.

“Holy shit,” Cisco breathed, and Barry looked between him and the card. “That’s my card.”

Len’s expression continued holding the coy smirk that seemed to have settled onto his features the instant he had the cards in hand. “Is it?” He asked mock-innocently, smugness indicating he knew perfectly well that was Cisco’s card. With another flourish, Len placed the red card face-down in the center of the table. “Then let’s keep going, but how about this time ...” Len hummed in consideration, “You seem like a good friend, Cisco, would you like to help Barry out?”

Cisco looked a little confused, but he was enthusiastically bright-eyed and absolutely enthralled now. “Dude yes, of course, let’s do it.” He paused as the confusion sank in. “ ... What are we doing?”

“Well, since the deck responded so well to you, let’s see if we can focus that strong heart of yours on lending a little luck to help a wish come true for Barry here. Following so far?” Len asked as he drummed his fingers over the cards in his hand.

Cisco nodded enthusiastically, “Yeah, sure.” Then a thought occurred to Cisco, and his mouth dropped open a little hesitantly, but Barry didn’t seem bothered, so Cisco plastered the eager enthusiasm back on with a grin.

Len twisted in his seat to face more towards Barry, and Barry felt a sudden awareness of just how _close_ Len was. Moving with the awkward slowness that still came naturally to him when he was caught off-guard, Barry turned himself toward Len. When his knee bumped the other man’s, he reflexively apologized with a low, “Sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for,” Len reassured him, a bit of the theatricality in his words melting into something softer.

Barry ducked his head in a nod. The full focus of Len’s attention almost felt like a physical weight around him that left him pleasantly warm and entirely unsure _how_ this was the turn his evening had taken. 

“So, Barry, when you’re ready,” Len began, saying his name in a way that felt like a caress across the back of his neck. “I want you,” Len paused to let the words hang in the air between them, the elegant movement of his hands over the deck filling in the silence as he held it up for Barry, “to tell me when to stop.”

The innuendo was far smoother than Barry’s awkward phrasing fumble earlier, and Len was clearly doing it on purpose. It had been years since the last time Barry had boldly flirted with a stranger, and even then, Len was so far out of Barry’s league, part of him was sure the man was just toying with him. Whatever Len’s intentions were, Barry admitted to himself that he was still enjoying the attention.

Barry swallowed, grateful for the deck if only so he didn’t keep staring into Len’s eyes and do something brazenly dumb. “Okay,” he agreed.

“Ready?” Len asked; Barry nodded, but at Len’s arched brow, he responded aloud, “Yeah. Ready.”

Len’s hands were in motion again, this time holding the deck up as he pulled the cards into his palm below, a rhythmic cascade as he reached up with the thumb and forefinger of his lower hand to guide each card in an effortless glide. 

Barry stared, certain he’d never seen someone do that with cards before, but also mesmerized by Len’s hands. 

Barry hadn’t realized he’d dropped into the Speed Force, but for a moment, time slowed around him as he just _admired_.

Len’s long fingers held the upper half of the deck delicately, thumb and middle finger pinching it near the back of the cards, pointer finger curled in to steady the back of the deck. His other hand cradled the steadily-growing pile of cards as he pulled them smoothly from the top to slide down into the waiting cup of his palm at the bottom. His eyes weren’t on the cards at all, though; his gaze was focused entirely on Barry, and in the frozen moment, Barry felt himself vibrate with a shiver. 

_Damn_.

This guy could probably turn that look on a locked door and it’d open for him without so much as a ‘please.’

Barry lingered in the moment and let himself revel in the idea of what it might be like to have that piercing attention on him for more than just a card trick, and felt something twist in his chest. 

He realized he knew what his wish would be; “hopeless romantic” had never quite fit him, because he was far too hope _f_ _ul_ , and that seemed to be part of the problem. Still, it didn’t keep him from holding onto the desire for something lasting and meaningful, something like what his parents had, maybe even _better_ for himself and someone else. He’d always imagined that would be him and Iris, but now ... He just wished for someone who would love all of him in the way he knew he’d adore everything about them in return. Even if it was just part of a handsome stranger’s card trick, Barry still put stock in it. 

Barry had to steady himself with a fortifying breath before time began to flow around him again, dropping his gaze to the cards as he said, “Stop.”

Len’s hands immediately stilled, and he waited for Barry to look up at him again. Something in Len’s expression flickered, then smoothed back into the visage of a showman performing a trick. Barry was distracted from wondering about it when Len tipped his top hand back, revealing the face of the bottom card in his hand for Barry to see: the Ace of Hearts.

“Same as last time, it’s not for me to see. Got it memorized?” Len asked him, gaze unwavering even as Cisco and Lisa leaned in to see what was in his hand. Lisa didn’t comment, just resettled in her chair quietly.

“Got it,” Barry said, a little more confidently than he felt at the moment.

“Perfect,” said Len as he crisply rejoined both halves of the deck to once again square them up in his hands, then held them out toward Cisco. His gaze lagged, though, remaining on Barry for a few seconds, only averting slightly when he tilted his head toward the other side of the table with a renewed curl to his lips. 

“All right, Barry. Concentrate on your wish,” Len instructed, and Barry couldn’t stop the sad stroke that ran through his smile as he nodded while Len continued. “Cisco; you know what to do, but this time, think about how much you want your friend to be happy.”

Cisco complied, shaking his wrists out then grasping the deck in both hands and exaggerating a struggle, which earned an eruption of laughter from Lisa and Barry. Milking their amusement as long as he could, Cisco laughed triumphantly when he relinquished his hold on the cards. Len’s smirk wavered on the edge of being an actual smile for a moment before he turned his full attention back on Barry.

“Am I supposed to squeeze it now?” Barry asked, mirth warming his question, though some of that sad _something_ Len caught earlier was still lingering in his eyes.

“No,” Len held the deck out toward him, “all you have to do, Barry, is blow.”

Barry nearly choked on his own tongue and tried to cover with a nervous laugh, feeling his cheeks heat with a blush he couldn’t count on the low light of the evening to hide. 

“Just ..." He awkwardly flapped a hand as if _that_ helped clarify things and desperately tried to find words to fill the sputtering spiral he’d been sent into again. Len was looking at him like a _predator_ and _fuck_ Barry probably shouldn’t have liked that as much as he did.

“Need me to show you?” Len’s voice dipped into something dangerously promising, and a noise from the other side of the table sounded a lot like Cisco losing a fight with an ice cube in his mouth.

Barry felt the rushing tingle of the Speed Force dancing just under his skin, and something about it steadied him. Maybe he didn’t have a chance with this guy, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy the game of it. He leaned forward just a bit, blush still hot in his cheeks but his features smoothed into a confident dare. “I wouldn’t say no to a demonstration.”

Len’s expression _sharpened_ ; that must have been both the best and worst thing to say. Len took the invitation and leaned forward as well, until the deck of cards was held up in the scant distance between them and Barry felt like he was going to drown in Len’s eyes. Lips parting, Len slowly formed a loose 'o' with the shape of his mouth and exhaled. Barry felt the tickle of his breath against his cheek and could feel goosebumps prickle down his arms. 

Barry _really_ would have liked to say the flick of his tongue over his bottom lip was deliberate, but it was all nerves—still, he counted it a victory to note how Len’s gaze dropped to his lips. Doing as he was shown, Barry imitated the lazy 'o' with his parted lips and gently blew on the cards.

Len held Barry’s gaze as he leaned back, and when he took a slow audible breath, Barry realized he should probably do so as well. Straightening his posture, Barry glanced curiously down at the deck of cards.

“Let’s see,” Len fanned the cards out, slowly shifting them from one hand into the other. He made it all the way through the deck, but the back of all the cards remained the same unchanged blue.

“Did it not work?” Cisco asked, and it nearly startled Barry; he’d still been hanging in the daze of whatever it was thickening the air between him and Len, and the speedster looked toward his friend with an apologetic shrug.

“No,” Len drawled again, flicking the cards back into one hand and setting them down decisively face-up on the table. “It did; you see, sometimes, when the cards align to a wish so strong, it manifests more directly.” Len’s eyes slid meaningfully from Barry to the single red card still sitting in the center of the table, where it had remained untouched.

“What?” Cisco asked, confusion scrunching his features. Beside him, Lisa was watching Len and Barry attentively, her expression an echo of her brother’s smirk.

“Go ahead, Barry,” Len invited him softly, gesturing toward the card in the center of the table.

Brows drawn together curiously, Barry flipped over the red-backed card and let out a breathless laugh at seeing the Ace of Hearts there.

“DUDE, WHAT?!” Cisco launched out of his seat, staring at the card, then wide-eyed at Len. “HOLY SHIT, ARE YOU AN ACTUAL WIZARD?” Cisco clutched at his head in disbelief as he sank back down into his chair, grinning wide. “I just ... wh ... _how?!?”_

Len chuckled at Cisco, one hand settling over the face-up deck of cards where he’d left it on the table. Then his eyes were back on Barry, and Len’s hand slid across the table toward him, tracing out the deck in a line of mixed face-up suits. With the fingers of his other hand, he flicked the edge of the card nearest to him, flipping the deck in a smooth domino-like cascade to reveal that the back of every card was no longer blue, but red.

“Magic,” Len murmured.

A warm rush swelled in Barry’s chest, and he stared at Len in wonder.

Barry was still trying to shape his mouth into making coherent words when vibrations erupted from his pocket, and then he _did_ startle, banging his knee into the table hard enough that he felt his vision swim for a second and one of the table stands holding up a drink menu toppled over. He muffled a curse as he pulled his phone out of his pocket; a Flash alert. Because of course it was.

A similar jangle started up from Cisco’s phone moments later announcing a series of text messages, probably from Caitlin.

“Damn, I’ve gotta—” Barry looked up from his phone at Len, and Barry’s insecurity crashed down with a new lightning-tinged edge. Even if the guy were interested, the layers of complexity thanks to Barry’s secret identity made everything more difficult, if not outright impossible. “Sorry,” He intended to say more, but the words caught in Barry’s throat as he got to his feet, aching in his knee already dulled by his rapid healing. “I’m gonna go take care of the bill, I’ll be right back Cisco.” 

He awkwardly skirted past Len and found a server to help situate things. Cisco was rapidly hammering out responses to the texts he’d gotten (yep, from Caitlin), and he stuffed his phone back in his pocket when he finished. Wide-eyed apology met the curious gazes from the other two at the table, who had remained perfectly still and silent.

Cisco stammered out a rapid-fire explanation as he got to his feet, “Uh, sorry. We’re, uhhh, on call! And it’s an emergency. But, hey, just cuz we gotta go, you don’t! That’s just more nachos for you!” He shoved one hand into his pocket because if he didn’t, he’d start fidgeting with his hair. 

“Don’t even worry about it,” Lisa smiled sweetly up at him, getting to her feet and resting a hand against Cisco’s forearm. “I hope everything works out okay. It was real nice to meet you, Cisco.”

Cisco nodded a little more enthusiastically than he probably needed to, “You too, meeting you was the best night I’ve had in _weeks_ , for real,” Cisco’s words ran together as he attempted to reroute his babble into something more closely resembling social grace, and when he took a breath, he was slightly more intelligible. “Just, y’know. Emergencies!” He tried to laugh it off, but it sounded forced.

Barry returned, looking harried. “Really, I’m so sorry, it was so great to meet you both,” his eyes lingered on Len, “You—this was incredible. And, hey, more nachos for you, right?” Cisco’s pained expression informed Barry he’d probably already tried that angle of levity.

Len’s chair scraped against the concrete flooring as he stood, and Barry couldn’t help letting himself slip into Speed Force-dilated time just a little to appreciate the man one last time.

He’d barely even begun getting to know him, and the sinking resignation in his gut meant he had to make peace with the likelihood that he never would. Probably for the best. 

When time returned to normal again, Len reached out to cup a friendly hand over Barry’s shoulder, then traced a line down his arm. Barry couldn’t feel the warmth of Len’s hand through the layers of fabric, but pleasant chills followed in the wake of his touch. “Be seeing you around, then, Barry.” Something about the way he said it sparked an ember of dangerous hope.

“Yeah?” Barry asked.

“Mhm,” Len hummed affirmatively, his fingertips finally slipping away from the sleeve of Barry’s coat. The knowing twist of his lips looked a lot like he had another trick up his sleeve, and Barry tilted his head curiously. 

Len’s eyes danced, “Magic, remember?”

Barry laughed, shaking his head. He dropped his chin and felt that boldness rush into his veins again. Biting his lip, he fortified himself to ask—

The wail of sirens screamed past Mercury Microbrew, snapping his attention back to priorities. 

Central City needed the Flash.

Cisco’s hand clapped Barry on the arm, and they gave a final hurried farewell as they made their way out of the microbrewery. They ducked into an alley nearby so Barry could speed them both the rest of the way back to S.T.A.R. Labs, and seconds later the Flash was on his way to address reports of a metahuman attack downtown.

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Lisa waited until the bounce of Cisco’s dark hair disappeared before slumping back down into one of the chairs at the table, tugging the plate of nachos to herself. Len arched a brow at her, and she huffed, “Don’t give me that judgy big brother look. Sit back down, Lenny.”

He made a screeching ruckus of it, dragging the chair far more than was necessary, but he sat back down and crossed his arms over his chest. “You said your buddy behind the bar vetted every ID. Those two looked _barely_ legal,” he drawled.

“Didn’t seem to stop you from giving that cutie a five-alarm fire on his face,” Lisa smirked, “he was _into_ you. And,” she continued, leaning closer as she swiped another nacho, “you had that look.”

“What look,” Len frowned.

“The one you get when you’re having fun. For- _real_ fun. If he weren’t a mark, I’d almost think you _liked_ him,” she grinned.

Len rolled his eyes but said nothing as he gathered the red deck of cards from the surface of the table, sliding them back into their box, then doing the same with the blue deck he’d tucked into his jacket’s inner pocket when he made the switch. He’d left his drink untouched but finally took a slow sip; the ice in his water had kept it chilled enough that the glass left a small puddle of condensation behind on its coaster. 

“So what’s this I hear about a big famous diamond coming to town? You _know_ how I feel about diamonds,” Lisa pouted theatrically, and Len snorted.

“It’s handled,” he replied, moving to set his glass back down on the table but pausing to study where the water on his coaster traced a ring around the microbrewery’s emblematic running figure of Mercury. He swiped a thumb through the puddle of condensation, then thumped his glass back down atop it.

“But don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about you; your part just comes later. Focus on the small-scale stuff tonight. And finish your nachos,” Len reassured his sister with his brand of affectionate fussing, and she seemed to like whatever she saw in the small, but genuine, smile he had for her.

She looked down at the plate of food and poked at another chip. “It’s a shame they had to run off, I doubt they’d even realize it was us who lifted their wallets if we’d gotten the chance. I might have even given Cisco my number,” Lisa lamented, twirling a strand of hair around a finger. 

One of Len’s brows arched, and he looked a little _too_ smug. Lisa narrowed her eyes at him knowingly. “Lenny, did you actually swipe that cutie’s wallet?”

“Not exactly,” he replied airily, then took another long drink of his water. “Don’t worry about it, sis.”

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The next morning, still half-asleep and definitely running late, Barry was rushing through his morning autopilot at Jitters when his debit card wouldn’t slide back into its spot in his wallet as smoothly as it usually did. Cursing his luck and fully resigned to discovering he’d somehow ruined his wallet and would need to find a replacement, Barry frowned curiously when he found an unfamiliar extra card peeking out from one of the slots. When he tugged it out, he felt a rush that had nothing to do with caffeine as he grinned at the card: an Ace of Hearts.

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**Author's Note:**

> 🗲 - The nomenclature of the microbrewery is obviously a nod to the Greco-Roman deity, Mercury/Hermes. Aside from the parallels in early Flash comic designs, I’ve always loved that Mercury is often thought of for his swiftness, but is also associated with - among other things - luck, trickery, and thieves. Seemed delightfully appropriate.
> 
> ❅ - I’ve never really tried my hand (ha) at putting card tricks into words before so I’m unsure how well things translate, especially since so much relies on visuals and misdirection. I kinda hope maybe the UST can be the misdirection for my clumsy word-bashing of the tricks, and the Prestige is the fact that, hey, another human is reading this! MAGIC
> 
> 🗲 - The card trick Len performs is a version of the Chicago Opener/Red Hot Mama/Best Card Trick in the World/etc; it has lots of names, but the gist is the same. 
> 
> ❅ - Wrote this out with the initial intent for it to be a standalone, but may be tempted to add more later; mostly, couldn’t knock loose thinking of how Len and Lisa probably have lots of great cons, and sleight of hand magic tricks fit perfectly for a modern rogue. 
> 
> This is the first work I've shared more broadly for this ship, and I hope folks enjoy it. Comments/feedback always welcome ♥ Thank you so much for reading!  
> More art-things posted over on [hautecoldture.tumblr.com](https://hautecoldture.tumblr.com/)


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